History Anime / TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya

* CatchPhrase: Kaguya's father has a habit of saying "Thank the heavens!/Medetai, Medetai" whenever he's excited about things happening to Kaguya.
* CatSmile: Kaguya's handmaiden Me no Warawa sports a subtle one.

** The festival held in honor of Kaguya's naming and menstruation didn't have Kaguya herself at all, with her kept away from all the festivities. [[spoiler:Inversely, the Lunarians hold a joyous musical procession, with ''her'' at the center of it--but only to take her away, and ignore her pleas to continue living on Earth.]] No matter what, whatever procession is in her name always ignores the feelings of the person it's supposed to celebrate.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In a way. In the original tale, the Emperor does grab Kaguya and it's portrayed rather sympathetically while the movie makes it clear he committed a ''violation'' of her will that led her trauma-induced decision. In the original tale, after apologizing for this the Emperor and Kaguya become platonic pen pals (though his romantic feelings for her lingered) of sorts. In fact, it's he who supplied guards to prevent her forced ascendency and is distraught when that fails. Here, he is unrepentant and [[EntitledToHaveYou still insists that he will have her.]]

* WomenAreWiser: Kaguya's mother and handmaiden understand her and what makes her happy better than her father ever does. Played with in Lady Sagami's case; she understands better than anyone else the path of least resistance in the life of nobility, but her methods do as much harm to Kaguya's self worth as the pressure her father and society puts on her.

* AnAesop:
** Money can't buy happiness. A simple and content life is better than a rich and miserable one.
** Living a life that makes you miserable to please others will only leave you full of regrets [[spoiler:when you reach the end of your life]].
** Giving your child a better life only works if you pay attention to what makes them happy, and give them the life ''they'' want rather than the one ''you'' think they should have.

* InformedAttractiveness: Several characters make remarks about Kaguya's beauty.

* Anti-Villain: While Kaguya's father does genuinely love her, his inability to truly understand her desires and needs in favor of constantly projecting his definition of a happy life onto her is the root cause of all of Kaguya’s suffering and [[spoiler:eventually her departure from Earth and return to the moon.]]

This was Takahata's last directorial work before his death in April 2018, though not the last project he was involved in (that being ''WesternAnimation/TheRedTurtle'' in 2016, which he co-produced alongside Toshio Suzuki, Vincent Maraval, Pascal Caucheteux, and Grégoire Sorlat). It was dubbed and released in North America in 2014, and was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature, a first for an anime film not directed by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki. It was also the first Ghibli film to be distributed on home video by Creator/{{Universal}} in North America. It also is currently the highest-budget anime film ever made, having a budget of $49 million (5 billion Yen).[[note]]This is more than twice the budget of the previous film to hold this distinction, ''Anime/{{Steamboy}}'', which had a budget of $20 million (2.108 billion yen).[[/note]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Kaguya realizes pretty quickly that she's not happy living in the GildedCage her father set up for her, but tries to play along to make him happy. After being miserable for years, [[spoiler:she dies tragically young, ruing all the time she wasted living a life she hated instead of using what little time she had on earth to be happy.]]

''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' is a 2013 Japanese animation film from Creator/StudioGhibli, directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata, based on the 10th-century Japanese fairy tale ''Literature/{{The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter}}''. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it stands as Ghibli's longest film ever released and [[EpicMovie one of the longest animated films in the world]].

No relation to ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar''. The same Japanese folk tale that inspired this film was adapted back in 1987 as a live-action feature called ''Film/PrincessFromTheMoon''.

''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' is a 2013 Japanese animation film from Creator/StudioGhibli, directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata, based on the 10th-century Japanese fairy tale ''Literature/{{The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter}}''. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it stands as Ghibli's longest film ever released and [[EpicMovie one of the longest animated films in the world]]. It's also the longest animated movie to not be tied to a preexisting media franchise (assuming folk tales don't count as media franchises).

''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' is a 2013 Japanese animation film from Creator/StudioGhibli, directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata, based on the 10th-century Japanese fairy tale ''Literature/{{The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter}}''. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it stands as Ghibli's longest film ever released and one of the longest animated films in the world. It's also the longest animated movie to not be tied to a preexisting media franchise (assuming folk tales don't count as media franchises).

* OverprotectiveDad: Averted with Kaguya's father, who does indeed want the best for Kaguya, including the highest-ranking husband possible.

* HopeSpot: For a brief moment during the climax, Kaguya [[PatrickStewartSpeech stands up for her view on Earth to the Lunarians]], making it seem as though her impassioned speech might persuade them to let her stay. Instead, they abruptly wrap the cloak of forgetfulness around her before she's even halfway finished.

** The fourth suitor, Ishizakuri no Miko, also appears to be a sensitive, compassionate man, to the point that Kaguya seems to momentarily consider returning his affections. [[spoiler: [[YankTheDogsChain Then he's revealed]] to be a ManipulativeBastard who didn't truly mean a word of anything he said and is in fact cheating on his wife by trying to seduce Kaguya.]]

** The fourth suitor, Ishizakuri no Miko, also appears to be a sensitive, compassionate man, to the point that Kaguya seems to momentarily consider returning his affections. [[spoiler: [[YankTheDogsChain Then he's revealed to be a ManipulativeBastard who didn't truly mean a word of anything he said and is in fact cheating on his wife by trying to seduce Kaguya.]]

** More specifically, The fourth suitor (Ishizakuri no Miko) claims that he offers Kaguya, not the Buddhist Begging Bowl he promised, but a [[FlowersOfRomance simple wildflower]]. He explains to Kaguya that in his search for the treasure, he happened upon the wildflower instead and found it more suitable to [[RuleOfSymbolism represent]] his 'devotion' for her. As opposed to his and the other suitors' claims of how their love for her were like impossible treasures, it makes it look like his love has shifted to becoming just like that flower: simple but natural and blooming. But when it's revealed [[YankTheDogsChain he's made that speech before to other girls]] (including his begrudging ''current wife''), said-wife makes a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing point]] that his wildflower speech is but a glorified pick-up line. If anything, it only serves to reflect how he ''really'' views women: as [[TrophyWife easily attainable]] as common wildflowers to pluck up and then dispose of when he tires of them.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The wife of the third suitor gives her husband one of these, knowing that Kaguya would probably become just another disposable spouse of his, just like she has become.

** The third suitor brings a single wild flower he plucked from the side of the road as a symbol of how simple but real his alleged affection is. His wife (whom it's implied he wooed with this same pickup line) turns up and demands to know how many ''more'' flowers he intends to pluck and discard in this manner. If anything, this indicates what the wild flower ''[[AnalogyBackfire truly]]'' symbolizes, how he only wants a woman so long as she's [[TrophyWife attainable]].
** The emperor embracing her from behind without her consent, her horrified reaction, her subsequent EmptyShell and DullEyesOfUnhappiness behavior, and her news to her parents that his embrace made her want to escape so intensely that it hastened her inescapable return to the moon, can all be read as symbolism for [[spoiler:Kaguya experiencing RapeAsDrama and then being DrivenToSuicide or DeathByDespair.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: In a way. In the original tale, the Emperor does grab Kaguya and it's portrayed rather sympathetically while the movie makes it clear he committed a ''violation'' of her will that led her trauma-induced decision. In the original tale, after apologizing for this the Emperor and Kaguya become platonic pen pals (though his romantic feelings for her lingered) of sorts. In fact, it's he who supplied guards to prevent her forced ascendency and is distraught when that fails. Here, he is unrepentant and [[EntitledToHaveYou still insists that he will ultimately have her.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: In a way. In the original tale, the Emperor does grab Kaguya and it's portrayed rather sympathetically while the movie makes it clear he committed a ''violation'' of her will that led her trauma-induced decision. In the original tale, the Emperor and Kaguya become platonic pen pals (though his romantic feelings for her lingered) of sorts. In fact, it's he who supplied guards to prevent her forced ascendency and is distraught when that fails.

A bamboo cutter discovers a miniature girl in a bamboo shoot. He and his wife take her in, naming her "Princess Kaguya" and raising her to be a lady. As Kaguya grows in beauty, she also remembers her origins on the Moon, and is torn between returning there and her love for her life on Earth.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_tale_of_princess_kaguya.jpg]]

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